We often hear of smart home trends automating security and programming lights in the living room. But businesses are fast looking to the Internet of Things (IoT) to automate much of their processes, particularly in logistics for tracking shipped and warehoused retail products, improving efficiencies with already-automated systems like factory robotics, and extending patient data accessibility across buildings and systems within the healthcare industry.

There’s a crossroad for enterprise and the Internet of Things, as software continues to gain traction in the business world. Software will be integrated into more and more physical items in our world, spewing off data that can be used for countless business applications. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the global IoT market will hit $7.1 trillion by 2020. And Cisco Systems, Inc.’s Internet Business Solutions Group predicts 25 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2015 and 50 billion by 2020.

But 2015 looks especially promising for IoT in the enterprise, as business solutions will increasingly need to address the growing number of connected devices now contributing to daily operations. According to MobileEnterprise, “2015 will play host to the new concept of IoT for the enterprise, with an increasing need to manage, secure and operate non-traditional IT assets driven primarily by security needs.”

And a recent Forrester Consulting survey, on behalf of Zebra Technologies, revealed that 80 percent of respondents believe that IoT solutions will be the most strategic initiative for their organization within a decade. For the retail industry in particular, some 96 percent of decision makers “are ready to make changes required to adopt IoT.”

Zebra Technologies itself used to define its reach as simply “a printer company,” but as the technology landscape changed, Zebra sought to expand its offerings by finding new ways to help customers connect the physical world to the digital world. Zebra brings together real-time asset visibility, mobility and cloud technology to streamline enterprise asset intelligence. The company’s goal: change the limits of what you can know about your business.

One of Zebra’s new technologies, called Zatar, offers one dashboard that allows the user to view all connected devices. We recently talked with Anders Gustafsson, CEO of Zebra, about Zatar and its contributions to IoT for the enterprise, as well as why the company sees “Zatar as the Facebook page for devices.” Since the interview Zebra has launched an API for the Zatar platform, expanding the use cases of its IoT dashboard technology.

Managing all connected devices in one location

Q: What is Zatar?

Gustafsson: Zatar is a new cloud-based Internet of Things platform for enterprises that offers a seamless way to connect any and all types of devices to third-party applications. Zatar can also work seamlessly with sensors, healthcare IoT and iBeacons, which has major implications for retail and healthcare institutions.

Q: What are the benefits of this type of system?

Gustafsson: It results in better real-time information and smarter decisions that are more timely. You scan a barcode, now that barcode can communicate something about that asset. We also do passive and active RFID. All these technologies have the ability to communicate something from the digital to physical worlds.

One of the cool things with our tech — athletes can use it to get better. Coaches can use it to help athletes. For the fans sitting at home with a beer and a bag of chips, they’re trying to figure out how to use tech to improve the fan experience and engage them more.

And when we designed the interface, we made it as intuitive as possible. Others are IT-oriented. We started with the user. I believe we’re unique in how we approached the design process.

A horizontal stack for enterprise needs

Q: Why does the enterprise need this type of device?

Gustafsson: Most IoT products are layered to proprietary cloud services, and you end up with a lot of vertical apps. For the enterprise, you need a horizontal stack. We’re focused on the communications layer to be able to connect applications and devices.

Q: We typically see manufacturer data stay with the manufacturer. What are you doing with your dashboard to give data access to clients?

Gustafsson: We ensure we can establish a robust, connectivity stream between the device and the Internet. And we can maintain that information, and depending on the device, our dashboards can help retailers manage inventory. This can be for pretty much any device.

For instance, we have a smart wine rack where restaurants or private collectors can know what wine they have in which rack. They can know the history of when they bought it, as well as other information about the wine. If you have teens at home while you’re traveling, you can set an alarm on the rack.

Q: What about IT automation?

Gustafsson: If we expand beyond Zatar, we have active RFID in an auto factory. Our technologies can help to know specific tasks at a work station, as well as help with torque levels with tools.

Market opportunities and enterprise-grade security

Q: What market opportunities are out there?

Gustafsson: Healthcare, retail and manufacturing are the most proactive in adopting. Retail today is much better with technology. They want to be as efficient as possible to compete with e-tailers and want to improve consumer in-store experience. We have a lot of solutions for retail.

Q: How big is security for enterprise-grade clients?

Gustafsson: Security is big. We have the same security features as you’d expect any other networked device to have. The enterprise has protocols that we have to follow.

Q: Will these IoT enterprise trends trickle down to the consumer?

Gustafsson: Yes, we’re focused on the enterprise, but we can see how these trends will make their way to the consumer. There are companies we can partner with for consumer deployments. In some instances with IoT, consumer apps are ahead of enterprise. I definitely feel that consumers are going to be a big part of everything going on with IoT. Today it’s a two-way street.

Image via Zatar